ABRAHAM'S SACRIFICE.

will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. they went both of them together.

27

So

And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built there the altar, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of Jehovah called to him out of heaven, and said : Abraham, Abraham. And he said: Here am I. And He said Stretch not forth thine hand against the lad, neither do thou ought unto him. Surely now I know that thou fearest God, for thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. Then Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt-offering in. the stead of his son.

And an angel of Jehovah called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, therefore will I greatly bless thee, and mightily multiply thy seed, like the stars of heaven, or like the sand which is upon the shore of the sea; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou didst hearken to my voice.

And Sarah died in the city of Arba—that is, Hebronin the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake to the children of Heth, saying: A stranger and a sojourner am I among you; give me a burying-place among you, that I may bury my

dead from before me. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying: We pray thee, hear us, my lord; a prince of God art thou among us. In the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead. None of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre but that thou mayest bury thy dead. And Abraham rose up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the children of Heth, and spake with them, saying: If it be your mind that I bury my dead from before me, hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is his, which is in the end of his field. For its full price let him give it me among you for a burying-place. Now Ephron was sitting among the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, all that used to go in at the gate of his city, saying: Nay, my lord, hear me. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, to thee I give it. In the presence of the children of my people give I it thee. Bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed himself down before the children of Heth, and spake to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying: But if thou wilt, I pray thee hear me. I have given the price of the field. Take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying: I pray thee, my lord, hear me. A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silverwhat is that between thee and me? Bury therefore thy dead. Then Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which is before Mamre-the field, and the cave which

THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH.

29

was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all its circuit round about-was made sure to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, all that used to enter into the gate of the city. And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre—that is, Hebron-in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure to Abraham for a burying-place by the children of Heth.

CHAPTER VI.

GENESIS, xxiv.-xxvii.

ISAAC, THE PATRIARCH.

The Embassy-The Wooing of Rebekah-The Betrothal-Death of Abraham-Strife with the Philistines-Birth of Esau and JacobEsau Sells his Birthright-Jacob Steals the Blessing-Jacob's Blessing-Esau's Curse-Esau's Hatred.

Now Abraham was old, well stricken in age; and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his slave, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had: Put thy hand under my thigh; that I may make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but unto my country, and to my kindred shalt thou go, and take a wife for my son Isaac. And the slave said to him: Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land; must I needs bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest? And Abraham said to him: Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. Jehovah, the God of heaven, that took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and that spake to me, and that sware unto me, saying: To thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son thence. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then

THE WOOING of REBEKAH.

31

shalt thou be clear from this mine oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again. And the slave put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning this matter.

Then the slave took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed; and of the goods of his master he took all kinds in his hand; and he set out, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down without the city by the well of water toward eventide, at the time that the women go out to draw water. And he said: Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and shew kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I stand by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: may the damsel to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and who shall say: Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, be she whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou shewest kindness to my master.

And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out-who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was a virgin very fair to look upon. And she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the slave ran to meet her, and said: Let me sip, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher. And she said: Drink, my lord; and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said: For thy camels also will I draw water, until they have done drinking. So she hasted, and emptied her pitcher